International Human Rights Litigations in U.S. Courts

In recent years, US federal courts have upheld the right to pursue international human rights litigation in their jurisdiction pursuant to the Alien Tort Statute. In this book, the authors (civil rights lawyers primarily affiliated with the Center for Constitutional Rights) provide a guide to determining whether a case is appropriate for such a path and how to proceed with the steps of the litigation. They discuss the Alien Tort Statute and other statutory and common law grounds for human rights claims and explain international law violations that may be the basis for a federal lawsuit. They also discuss possible defenses, including the political question and related doctrines; immunities; and the role of the executive branch in triggering defenses. They provide procedural guidance on investigating and developing a case and drafting and filing the complaint, through discovery, proof, default judgments, trials, and remedies. Finally, they examine the specialized area of human rights litigation based on historical injustices, particularly the Holocaust. Martinus-Nijhoff is an imprint of Brill. Annotation c2008 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

The five authors have decades of experience with human rights litigation and have published dozens of articles about the topics covered in the book:Beth Stephens, a law professor at Rutgers-Camden School of Law, has litigated international human rights cases with the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) and written extensively about the issues covered in this book. She is on the Board of Directors of the Center for Justice and Accountability (CJA).Judith Brown Chomsky is a civil and human rights lawyer and a cooperating attorney with CCR. Her present practice focuses almost exclusively on international human rights cases. Jennifer Green is a Senior Staff Attorney at CCR, where she specializes in international human rights legal actions in U.S. courts and international bodies. Much of her work focuses on international women's international human rights. Paul Hoffman, a civil rights lawyer and partner in Schonbrun DeSimone Seplow Harris and Hoffman LLP, has litigated numerous human rights cases and argued Sosa v. Alvarez-Machain in the U.S. Supreme Court. He is one of the co-founders of CJA.Michael Ratner is President of CCR and has litigated numerous human rights cases throughout the world. He led CCR in its aggressive legal fight against the post-September 11 human rights violations.